Head volleyball coach Carrie Yerty said her team is ready to bounce back to its winning ways tonight after suffering its first loss of the season Sunday at the hands of Houston.
Memphis (10-1, 1-1 in Conference USA) returns to action at 7 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse against St. Louis tonight.
Yerty said Sunday’s loss didn’t take any of the steam out of her squad, which has rolled to one of the best starts in school history.
“We’re fired up to play,” Yerty said Monday. “It’s motivating for (the players) to know they can compete with one the top teams in the conference.”
Though the Lady Cougars are just 5-5 overall and 1-1 in Conference USA, they are regarded as one of the top teams in the league, and perhaps the country.
“We had the opportunity to beat a team that has been to the NCAA Tournament for 11 straight years,” Yerty said. “We have to stay confident throughout the match.”
The Lady Tigers managed to stretch Houston to five games, but fell short 15-13 in game five.
Seniors Ginger Garrett and Emily Eichmann led the Lady Tigers in the loss with 17 and 14 kills, respectively. Senior Amie Hamilton had 57 assists and four aces.
Yerty said her team responded well to the challenge of playing a team the likes of Houston, but got mentally fatigued at the end of the match. She added, however, that she wasn’t angered by the loss and was happy with much of her team’s play.
“We have to follow our gameplan,” she said. “Physically we were all over it, and we are conditioned well. We have to stay aggressive and stay focused. Mentally we let up at times, and I think that could have been the difference.”
Tiger senior Adrianne Edmonds played well defensively, posting 17 digs to go with nine kills and one service ace.
Sophomores Shella Neba and Brittany Barnett also added good games for Memphis as well. Neba had 12 kills while Barnett had 11 digs.
For the game, the Lady Tigers posted a hitting percentage of .221 with 70 kills and 30 errors in 181 attempts.
